


Dust til Dawn

by Bersenev



Series: Vigilante!Tenko [1]
Category: Vigilante - My Hero Academia Illegals, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Bullying, Dadzawa, Gen, Implied Child Abuse, Muzzle, Quirk Discrimination (My Hero Academia), Vigilante Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Vigilante Tenko AU, Vigilantism, draft, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26449369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bersenev/pseuds/Bersenev
Summary: Shimura Tenkos life wasn't easy, but that was nothing new.After a quirk accident that harmed his whole family, being adopted by a vigilante called Knuckleduster, accidentally rescuing a UA student from falling debris and eventually ending up in his own small apartment living the vigilante life he thought that nothing could surprise him anymore.Enter a boy being bullied, an annoying hero and social interactions he'd rather avoid.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shirakumo Oboro, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko & Shinsou Hitoshi, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko & Shirakumo Oboro, Shimura Tenko & Knuckleduster
Series: Vigilante!Tenko [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922692
Comments: 3
Kudos: 66





	Dust til Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Small warning: I just finished writing and vaguely proof reading this draft so there might be quite a few errors left but I do think it's still worth reading and I'll try to update it with a more correct version soon!

If you were to ask the people around you what their favourite season was chances are that a lot of them would say that it’s summer and quite a few of them would probably continue to explain that they enjoy the sun and the heat that came with it.  
  
If you were to ask Tenko however he would say that his favourite season is spring, or maybe autumn but never summer. He’d explain that he doesn’t enjoy the heat, that he doesn’t like the crowds that the sun lures outside and that he has difficulties falling asleep when the sun stays up so late.  
  
Now, while all of those reasons are true and relate to the real reason that Tenko isn’t fond of summer they otherwise wouldn’t really bother him, he thinks.  
  
That thought in mind Tenko disappears into the alley with practiced steps while he pulls on the collar of his thick black hoodie which slowly began to stick to his hot sweat slicked skin, making him feel like he was marinating in his own juices. The thought made him shudder in disgust and for a moment he contemplated just taking the offending piece of clothing off completely to give himself at least a moment of reprieve before he continued on his patrol.  
  
The idea however was quickly disregarded when he heard the distinctive noises of a scrabble further down the alley. Dull sounds of fists meeting skin and feet kicking trash and possibly a person echoed between the backwalls of the decrepit residential homes and shops, ultimately spurring Tenko into action, as he started running towards what he assumed to be a fight.  
  
It was already quite late in the evening, prime time for drunken squabbles and other less harmless altercations between people that knew fully well that they’d wake up between containers of trash and their own vomit in the morning, yet the sun refused to set and gift these individuals some privacy in the shadows.  
  
To a certain degree the sun made Tenkos job a lot easier as it allowed him to actually see obstacles in time and therefore run down the alley and reach his goal faster. It also helped him access the situation he stumbled upon after turning a corner a lot quicker than he would be able to if the whole alley was drenched in darkness.  
  
Sadly the same could be said for all other parties.  
  
A few meters ahead of him stood a small group of teens, which were all quick to turn around and look at Tenko, with the exception of one who was currently shoved against the wall and held in the middle of the group of four .  
  
All in all this was not the worst situation he had ever stumbled upon. Nobody was currently using their quirk and there were no dangerous weapons to be seen, all of which Tenko would usually count as a win, if it were not for the fact that this particular scene hit a little bit closer to home than the average mugging.  
  
“So...-“ Tenko started, slowly walking towards the group of what were probably students, if their uniforms were any indication, his hands raised and visible. „-how about all of you scram and spare me the effort of beating you like you beat them. Sound good?“ He made sure to make eye-contact with every single one of them as he spoke, making a mental list of their appearances to report to their school later.  
  
He didn’t really want to pick a fight with students, hence the raised hands, but he wasn’t above it either if any of them decided to continue what they had started with whoever they had pinned to the wall between them.  
  
The teens exchanged some unsure, dare he say frightened looks between each other and Tenkos fingers were itching to just grab his brass knuckles and teach them their lesson the hard way when they started backing off slowly.  
  
“This isn’t over.“ the biggest one of them spat at the figure in the middle before they started retreating into another side street, shooting Tenko quite a few dirty looks while doing so.  
  
It was always the same with brats like that he thought. All hat and no cattle if even someone as scrawny as Tenko in his black hoodie and jeans ensemble could scare them off. Maybe the red combat boots he recently added made him look a bit more dangerous than he did before, though he rather doubted it.  
  
Their cowardice in front of strangers and adults most likely didn’t matter to their victim however.  
  
There were too many places guys like that could corner you alone and too many people that were content with looking away if they did catch a glimpse of the situation, Tenko knew that all too well.  
  
Before him the person, he assumed it was a boy, slid down the wall he had been pressed against all the way to the floor, making Tenko cringe in knowledge of what usually covered the ground in back streets like these. Telling them about that probably wouldn’t help though, which convinced Tenko to walk closer to them and crouch down in front of them.  
  
“Hey ehm-“ Despite all the years he had been doing this already talking to the people he rescued still caught him off guard, leaving him at a loss for words.“Are you okay? Do you need me to fix you up or get you to a hospital?“ he questioned as softly as he could.  
  
The boy in front of him just shook his head as he drew his knees close to his chest and hid his head behind his crossed arms. His purple hair was slightly damp and darkened around his temples where it peeked out behind his arms, making Tenko vary of the truth behind that headshake.  
  
“I’m pretty sure I heard those other guys throwing some pretty hard punches.“ Tenko started again gauging the boy for any kind of reaction, only continuing when he didn’t get one. „Look, I get if you don’t want some stranger to prod at your wounds, but at least let me help you up and call someone so they can pick you up, okay?“  
  
That earned him another headshake, making him sigh roughly.  
  
“Okay, okay so no standing up and moving yet.“  
  
A nod.  
  
“How about you tell me what got you into this mess?“  
  
Another shake of the head. At this point Tenko really didn’t know what to do any more aside from just carrying the boy back to the main street and leaving him there or something equally mean. Maybe he should just call the police and let them handle the matter for once?  
  
That idea immediately left his mind as the boy slowly lifted their head from his knees, revealing what seemed to be a muzzle or something of the sort, covering the whole lower half of the kids face.  
  
Letting out a short noise of surprise Tenko immediately moved towards the boy reaching out towards their face, accidentally scaring them into flinching back and hitting their head on the wall behind them.  
  
“Shit, sorry I didn’t mean to-“ he mumbled, looking at the kid worriedly. „Just... let me try to take that thing of you for now, okay?“  
  
It took a moment in which the teen stared at Tenko with eyes full of distrust but eventually they nodded and turned around a bit to show of the back of their head, where the straps of the muzzle connected and where held together with some kind of lock. It was obvious that neither of them had the actual key for the atrocious thing, so Tenko immediately took his small lock picking kit out of one of his pants pockets.  
  
The lock itself wasn’t difficult to pick, it didn’t have to be after all. It was small and fidly enough that it would probably be challenging to take off for the wearer even with a key, which made it fulfill its purpose of leaving the decision whether it stayed on or off in the hands of someone other than the wearer.  
  
That in itself was enough to disgust Tenko. If the thing was easily removable by the user he would just assume that it was some kind of support item, or quirk control meant to help the user but if the boy couldn’t take it off themselves that surely wasn’t the case. Usually things like these were reserved for villains or criminals in custody who couldn’t be trusted not to use their quirks on the law enforcement.  
  
However the boy in front of him didn’t even seem to be in high school yet and Tenko couldn’t come up with a single reason besides abuse to send of a teenager outside and judging by the time and the fact that they were still wearing their uniform, to school with an unremovable muzzle on.  
  
A few seconds and some clicking sounds later the lock was open, spurring the kid to gingerly remove the damn thing and throw it on the ground beside him.  
  
“Thanks.“ They rasped and it hurt Tenkos heart to hear such a broken voice.  
  
“No problem kid. We ought to burn that thing right now if you ask me.“ He tried to assure the kid, hoping that they’d be able to hear that he meant it and maybe get them to trust him enough to help with whatever was going on.  
  
The sentence got a low chuckle out of the kid at the very least, which Tenko saw as a win.  
  
“I’m ‘Dust til Dawn“ by the way, but you can call me Dust. Feel like telling me a name and some pronouns for you so I can stop calling you kid if we continue the talk I tried to start earlier?“ He tried to keep his voice light as he asked the boy to tell him more about themselves, but projecting calm was never quite a specialty of his.  
  
The boy didn’t seem to mind too much as he shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on the grimy floor, prodding some of the bruises that were now visible on his face. Despite the shadows that the buildings around them cast the alley was still pretty well lit due to the summer sun that heated up the area around them.  
  
“I’m... Hitoshi, he.“ it was barely a mumble but Tenko managed to catch what the, he now knew for sure, boy said.  
  
“So, Hitoshi-“ Tenko said while taking the first aid-kit off his belt and handing it to the injured person in front of him „-do you want to talk about what earlier was about now? I can probably guess but... sometimes ranting helps.“

The look Hitoshi gave him as he took the med-kit was far from happy, but Tenko was never someone to back down just because of some frowning aimed at him. He did know when to give people space however, or at least he did right now, so he kept his mouth shut while Hitoshi took out some antiseptic wipes and bandages and started cleaning whatever wounds he found around his face.  
  
With the attention currently not aimed at him, Tenko took the time to look at the boy in peace. He wore the uniform of a local middle school that Tenko sometimes walked past on his morning patrols, his purple hair was styled away from his face and there were bruises on his hands as well as several dark patches on his clothes which looked like shoe prints.  
  
He probably hit back for a while before they overwhelmed him with sheer numbers and started kicking him instead, a way more efficient way of hurting another person without hurting yourself.  
  
Hopefully the bruises Tenko could see and those he didn’t were all the injuries the kid sported. While they weren’t ideal Hitoshi would at least be able to walk them off eventually. A broken rib or finger would be a completely different matter and that head wound already made Tenko reconsider his choice about not calling the cops.  
  
“At least tell me you hit back before I appeared.“ he tried to joke, keeping a close watch on Hitoshis expressions. He was rewarded with another frown.  
  
“Of course I did, but there’s only so much I can do against a group without my quirk.“ Hitoshi said, the anger and frustration clear in his voice „Not that I would have used it either way. I already seem like a villain without brainwashing my classmates in some dark alley.“  
  
That explained the muzzle, Tenko thought now frowning as well.  
  
“The law might say something else but there’s nothing villainous about protecting yourself Hitoshi. Those kids? They’re more villainous than you could ever be from what I’ve seen.“ Tenko started angrily, trying to make eye-contact with Hitoshi.  
  
“I’m only guessing here-“ he continued „but if people call you a villain only for your quirk then they’re absurdly misguided. A quirk is nothing but a tool, it doesn’t make you anything. It’s how you use it that dictates whether you’re a hero or a villain or something in between and protecting anyone, even yourself, will never be a villainous thing.“  
  
Tenko finished his angry rant with another pointed look, mentally willing the boy in front of him to understand the lesson he was trying to teach him.  
  
Hitoshi probably hadn’t meant to say anything about his quirk, but frustration and anger often loosened someones tongue and the picture Hitoshis words and the muzzle painted weren’t one Tenko liked in the slightest. It was a painful reminder of his own past, insecurities and the convictions that made him who he is today.  
  
It wasn’t a surprise that there were more kids like himself, kids with ‘dangerous’ quirks who were labelled as villains before they could even decide who they wanted to be themselves but no amount of knowing that fact ever prepared Tenko for the emotional repercussions of witnessing it himself and it never failed to reignite the old bitterness towards a system that refused to change and help those in need.  
  
There was something fundamentally wrong with a society that let people be shunned for the tools they were equipped with at birth instead of judging them for the deeds they actually committed.  
  
There was something fundamentally wrong with a society that divided people into heroes and villains based on their natural abilities in general.  
  
Any quirk could be used for good or evil, to help or to hurt and while it was true that some quirks were more dangerous than others or destructive or in this case intrusive that didn’t say anything about the person who possessed the quirk and what they would do with it.  
  
Tenko clenched his fists in anger, took a deep breath and then tried to release the tension again as he focused back on the kid, who was now looking at him with big eyes.  
  
“What I’m trying to say-“ Tenko started again a bit more calmly „Is that no one but you gets to decide who you are. Don’t let people who judge you based on what your quirk could do get to you. It’s your quirk, your choice. Don’t let people take that from you.“ he finished with a wry smile. „Even though that is easier said than done, I know.“  
  
Hitoshi starred at Tenko for another moment, before he shyly returned the smile.  
  
“Didn’t think I’d be lectured about my own quirk by some, I’m guessing, vigilante today but thanks. I- I actually needed to hear that.“  
  
If Tenko saw the small tears that were escaping Hitoshis eyes he didn’t comment on them, instead taking out a tissue and placing it on the others leg.  
  
“It’s just so-“ he continued, turning his head away a bit „-so unfair. I can’t even walk home without that-“ he looks at the muzzle with disdain and pain in the eyes „-thing on without getting in trouble let alone use my quirk to save myself. I can’t afford to make mistakes if I want to be a hero one day.“  
  
Tenko winced at that, the words hitting way too close to home. He knew the feeling all to well since he too once wanted to be a hero but the odds were stacked against people like him and Hitoshi, there was no doubt about that. It would be a hard road with no guarantee of success.  
  
“It is.“ was all Tenko knew to say „But it gets better, eventually. You’ll find your place as a hero, I’m sure of that.“  
  
“What, a hero like you?“ Hitoshi tried to joke and it made Tenko smile a bit, even though small alarm bells started ringing in his head. He felt as if it just got a little chillier, like someone was watching them. He’d have to wrap this up quickly before they got wrapped up.  
  
“If that’s what you want, but you seem more the type for legal heroism.“ he looked around the alley cautiously. „Maybe an underground hero like Eraserhead.“ The last word was said a bit louder, which reduced the nagging feeling of eyes on his back a bit.  
  
“Either way you might want to get up from there, these alleys aren’t usually the cleanest resting place and if you want I can give you directions to the nearest police station in case you feel like reporting what happened earlier.“ Tenko was already standing up himself, offering Hitoshi his hand to pull him up as well, which the other accepted.  
  
“I think I’ll just go home for now but thanks for the advice Dust.“ Hitoshi said and picked up his backpack and muzzle from the ground, smirking at Tenko as he regained a bit of the fake confidence he probably carried usually.  
  
“I’ll see you around?“ he asked with what seemed to be a bit of hope.  
  
“Not unless you get in trouble.“ Tenko replied, sending the teen off towards the main street with a wave.  
  
Watching the boy go Tenko sighed deeply before he got comfortable leaning back against one of the alleys walls. It didn’t seem like he’d be able to go back to his own patrol any time soon if the dark lurking shape on a nearby fire escape ladder was anything to go by.  
  
“Who was that?“ came the bored voice of the lurking figure, who so far refused to move from it’s spot in the shadows.  
  
Of course he wouldn’t be courteous enough to actually get down to Tenkos level just yet, it was always the same with that guy no matter how long they’ve known each other.  
  
“Just some boy who got roughed up a bit earlier. I just send him back on his way.“ Tenko shot back, keeping his eyes focused on the wall in front of him instead of his conversational partner.  
  
“And did you have to intervene?“ came the same drawl again.  
  
“A stern warning was enough to get them to scram. The boy needed some medical attention, don’t think they got him too bad though. All in all nothing you’d have to concern yourself with Eraser.“ Tenko replied a bit more saltly than he meant to.  
  
The two of them had this exact interaction so many times in the past that he frankly started to grow tired of it. If Tenko engaged in whatever situation he spotted during his patrol he would usually be chased around a bit, if he didn’t he would usually be pestered verbally until he could escape anyway. It was a completely unnecessary game of cat and mouse in his opinion.  
  
“Good.“ The voice was now much closer to Tenko and a look to the left revealed a Person clad in black, their face covered by a scarf, some goggles and a lot of stray black hairs. „I didn’t feel like chasing after you today anyway.“  
  
“Then don’t.“ Tenko hissed peskily in return. God that man was incorrigible.  
  
Diagonally from Tenko the man mimicked his pose and leaned back against the wall as well, his arms crossed and the goggles he wore now around his throat as he looked Tenko up and down, most likely looking for signs that he was lying and hiding injuries from him.  
  
“You could just accept my offer to intern for me. I could use a sidekick that knows what they’re doing and it would spare us both the effort or doing this all the time ‘Duster’“ he drawled.  
  
“First of all you know perfectly well that my name is Dust not Duster, Eraserhead.“ Tenko replied testily, he already had enough and knew that his mood was likely to stay that way until he got away from this particular nuisance. „Second of all my answer is still no. I like what I’m doing right now.“

Eraserhead nodded absentmindedly, clearly not paying a lot of attention to what he was being told as he squatted down to pet an alley cat that had made it’s way over to them.  
  
If Tenko didn’t know better he’d assume that Erasers Quirk was to attract cats, fortunately it wasn’t otherwise Tenko would have had a way harder time in the recent years whenever he tried to train with his quirk. Either way the amount of cats that usually flock Eraserhead was a little bit uncanny.  
  
They stayed like that for a while, Tenko brooding quietly and Eraser petting the cat, sometimes sneaking it a treat when he thought that Tenko wasn’t watching.  
  
“Oboro is sending his regards.“ Eraser says next, glancing up at the other man for a moment. „He says that you should drop by to visit him again soon.“  
  
At that Tenko looks down in shame. He hadn’t meant to be such a stranger and stay away from Oboro, but facing him just felt like too much sometimes. The man had such high hopes for him, just like Eraserhead in a way but Oboro went at it so differently.  
  
He never outwardly criticized his decision to become a vigilante, they actually talked about the topic frequently and Oboro was proud of him for helping people. They just didn’t agree on how Tenko did it.  
  
Sometimes it frustrated Tenko so much that he stormed out mid visit, too angry to speak and whenever he calmed down he would feel shame wash over him as Oboro welcomed him back with open arms.  
  
Of all the people he knew, Oboro had the biggest reason to hate heroes and society he thought and yet he stayed so incredibly positive and nice. He had kept his faith in the system, even knowing its flaws and it baffled Tenko.  
  
“I’ll come by soon.“ the vigilante replied uncomfortably.  
  
“You better do.“ Eraserhead agreed. „Otherwise Hizashi and I won’t be able to catch a break from his mother henning.“  
  
Tenko let out a laugh at that, well aware of Oboros mothering tendencies. „You know how he is. He worries too much sometimes.“  
Eraser cast a short glance at Tenko before he speaks again. „We all do, you know that. If you’d just listen to us-“  
  
Tenko groans and pushes himself of the wall before he can be lectured in earnest.  
  
“Yes, yes I know. I’ll think about it, okay?“ With that obligatory reassurance Tenko starts to walk away, deeper into the backstreets.  
  
It was a shame that his exit wasn’t as dramatic as he wanted it to be due to the summer sun still going strong even this late in the evening. At least he wasn’t being followed for once, something that Tenko had learned to take as a win.  
  
Now what to do next.  
  
Continuing on his usual patrol route with a hero around would be a bad idea, so that was out already. He could walk towards the other end of town and do an impromptu patrol there, but chances are that he’d be in actual trouble if he got involved in anything major today.  
  
It was shaping up to be one of those days were he just wandered around back alleys randomly, maybe catching a few important snippets of information here and there.  
  
Or he could go to the police and drop of some hints about the teenage bullies he dealt with earlier. Hitoshi would most likely not say anything about them but they would be dealt with in some way if Tenko had any say in it.  
  
He could draw out the walk to the station quite a bit if he looped around some of the more decrepit buildings on the way, giving him a nice amount of time to see if anyone else was causing trouble before he would stop by the station to drop off a hastily written note about the bullying he witnessed earlier.  
  
The walk remained woefully uneventful and so did the drop off, giving Tenko ample freetime to walk around some more, a nervous habit he had gotten after someone had followed him home one time, before he actually started his journey back to his small flat.

It wasn’t anything special by a long shot, but he couldn’t complain too much. It had a bed, shower, a small kitchenette and a sewing machine for all those times his clothes got ripped or dusted in a fight. All of that together with the convenience of having a bathroom all for himself whenever he was bleeding all over the place and his laptop he really didn’t need much else.  
  
Between his day job as a cashier, his vigilantism and his blog about problems like quirk discrimination, the lack of funding for social work and similar things he didn’t have a lot of time for himself to notice any flaws with his living situation either way. Whatever time of the day he ended up having left he spend honing his skills in lock picking, free running and hand to hand combat.  
  
Sometimes, if there was a lull in activity in his area, he would visit his dad and vigilante mentor Knuckleduster, or Oboro.  
  
Those visits became fewer and fewer since he had started his vigilante career in earnest however. It wasn’t something Tenko was doing on purpose, it just seemed to happen naturally no matter how many reminders he set on his phone to call, message or visit them.  
  
The only person he saw regularly nowadays was Eraserhead, but then again the distinction that he saw Eraserhead, not Aizawa was important. It wasn’t like they could be all buddy buddy, in fact Aizawa was already letting Tenko off easy.  
  
Aizawa said that it was only because he was an underground hero and vigilante contacts were needed for his kind of work, but Tenko knew that it had more to do with the fact that they’ve known each other for a while now.  
  
Even if they did work well as a team.  
  
Tenko reached the door of his small flat with a small sigh, vowing to go meet someone else soon, before Eraserhead drove him crazy and took out his keys from one of his pants pockets to let himself in, locking the door again as soon as he entered the apartment.  
  
A few steps is all it takes for him to reach his bed where he sits down gingerly after the several hours of walking he did once again as part of his normal vigilante routin. The distances he covered on foot stopped bothering him all that much years ago, but he still enjoyed it when he came home and got to sit down properly and most importantly take of his shoes.  
  
While combat boots were a great choice when it came to fighting they were all the more annoying to take on and off and the process of breaking them in had left Tenko frustrated and with feet that had hurt bad enough to consider skipping some patrols. At the very least he probably wouldn’t have to go through that again in the near future.  
  
Once his boots came off he flopped backwards onto the bed, starring at the ceiling for a moment as he listened to the quiet noises around him. Soon they’d overwhelm him, probing him to get up and look for his earplugs but right now after all the noises of the city they didn’t seem too annoying just yet.  
  
With the light still streaming into his windows despite the late hour, Tenko closed his eyes and dozed off.  
  
Tomorrow would be another day.  
  
For now he would rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello to everyone that ended up reading this Oneshot!
> 
> Bad News: As you might have noticed this small fanfic only hints at some of the things I have mentioned in the description.
> 
> Good News: That's because I actually plan to write a longer fanfic for this AU! I already have a lot of things planned for it and the only thing keeping me back so far is all the research it will take to actually come up with a proper timeline etc.
> 
> That being said I'd love to hear your feedback/thoughts on this.
> 
> So far it's not much more than a character study to get into the groove of who Tenko could be in this AU and the relationships he has build over the years but that's the starting point for a bigger better story about him!
> 
> So any ideas, wishes, speculations are 100% welcome and appreciated (and as always feedback keeps us writers going)
> 
> All of that aside I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.


End file.
